The Different Varieties of English: Accent, Social Significance, & More - Essay Sample

Introduction

It is essential to know the English language as it is used in many countries around the world. It is an official language in many states. There different varieties of English according to where the language came from. An example of two common types is American English and British English. The focus of the question is about how the different varieties differ from each other socially.

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Accent

An accent is the difference in the sound patterns. Accent can make someone to be known where he/she comes from. A person can be said to have a Black Country Accent after talking to a group of people. Therefore, an accent can be used to create social boundaries. The accent which is common in Standard English is Received Pronunciation (RP). The people with an RP accent come from the upper and middle class (Hughes, Trudgill, and Watt 2013). They come from the loyal family and other professional occupations.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is one way in which a person can be able to differentiate different varieties of English. Therefore, if two people are using different names when referring to the same object, then they can be known to have come from different regions or did not have the same exposure (Kachru 1992. While Americans go on vacation, Britain goes on holiday. There are other words like flats and apartments. In other regions where there is a mixture of different varieties, then it is possible to find all the words being used interchangeably.

English as First Language or Second Language

Some people learn English as their first language, while others learn it as a second language. There must be a difference between the two when it comes to speaking. The difference in the spoken language creates a social difference. It is easy to classify those who used English as their first language and those who learned it in schools.

The Spread of English

English was mostly spread during the colonial era. Therefore, it is most likely to find the countries which were colonized by Britain having more of British English. English can, therefore, be viewed in historical, social, and political perspectives. People using English as the official language were most likely colonized by the British. It was, therefore, easy to take English to all the continents of the world. In some regions, the language was profoundly affected by the local languages, an example being the Ugandan English which has a lot of regional dialects. It is easy to identify when a person from Uganda is speaking even without seeing their face.

The Difference Between the Second and Third Diaspora

The main difference between the second and the third diaspora is the transmission of language or the factors which led to the citizens of the country adopting English. English found its way into the second diaspora due to colonization (Jenkins 2003). The colonizers of these countries came from countries that speak English as their first language. Examples of second diaspora countries are some African states and also India. Therefore, the learning of English was due to some form of influence during colonization.For the third diaspora, they were never colonized by the British, and therefore they had other official languages, maybe France for some. There are some reasons which necessitated the adoption of English (Jenkins 2003). For some, they learned English as a foreign language, and others continued to make it an official language. There was no influence to learn English; the people learned it due to their needs. For example, the need for socialization and also doing business with many people around the globe. There are also many print media which are written in English.

It is more challenging to learn English in the third diaspora compared to the second diaspora (Chand 2009). English has been taught in the second diaspora countries for a long time now. Therefore, there are the necessary resources to teach. In the third diaspora, Most of the people are new to the language as they were not taught in their early years. They, therefore, do not have even the teachers, and they hire from the first diaspora and the second diaspora.

English in the second Diasporas is taught as a requirement in education. It was introduced to be taught in schools from the colonization era. In the third Diasporas, English is being coached for some economic needs mostly. The people in these countries need to interact with their neighbors in a way that they can understand each other. English has become a global language, and hence in the current age of globalization, it is becoming a need to know both spoken and written English.

In the second diaspora, people understand both written and spoken language even if the spoken language may sometimes be affected by the local dialects. In the third diaspora, people emphasize mostly on the spoken language. They may be fluent without the local language assent but do not know more about the written language.

While the source of knowledge in the second diaspora is mostly from teachers and books in schools, the third diaspora mostly learns using internet sources. They rely on tutorial videos and information in the internet.

Factors That Are Responsible for the Current Position of English in the World

British Colonization

Former British colonies adopted English as their official language. The British spread English in all their territories and made it the official language. There are many countries that were British colonies, mostly in West and East Africa, and that is how English ended up being the official language there. Before colonization, there were explorers and missionaries who made way for the British colonizers to go and settle in those areas. After 1960, the countries which were colonized started getting freedom one after the other, but English remained to be the official language (Crystal 2012).

Globalization

Doing business beyond mother countries necessitated a language that would be used by all people. English was already predominant in most states, and hence it became the global language. For example, in Rwanda, for it to trade with the East Africa communities like Kenya and Uganda, which were British Protectorate, the Rwandan people had to learn English (Crystal 2012). China also started learning English because of an interest in trading. The world has become a "global village," and many businesses would like to sell their products all over the world. It is possible to sell everywhere, especially with the use of the internet. Companies, while recruiting, look for staff that is good at both written and spoken English. Due to such requirements, the people who would like to get employed in most firms, therefore, learn English even before the job applications.

The Growth in Technology

When America grew as a superpower, it was controlling a lot of factors around the world. Internet and other technological equipment were invented in the United States. The keyboard in most computers and phones was possible to use only when one knew English. Most of the content in the internet was also written in English. As the world was moving digital, those who could not read English had to learn it for them to be conversant with the technological equipment (Chand 2009). Science was also growing, and universities were publishing all the research documents in English. Most news was also available in English, and hence if one was not conversant with English, he/she could have missed most of the international communication..There are other factors that led to English diffusing across the world include the spread of religion. The missionaries who spread the word of God and explorers spoke mainly English. People claim that learning English is easy. As long as one can access the internet, a person can learn without the need of a teacher. English has many materials online, and hence many people have learned the language online. Another factor is the perception that those speaking in English are of a high class.

Bibliography

Chand, V., 2009. Who owns English? Political, social, and linguistic dimensions of urban Indian English language practices. University of California, Davis.

Crystal, D., 2012. English as a global language. Cambridge university press.

Hughes, A., Trudgill, P., and Watt, D., 2013. English accents and dialects: An introduction to social and regional varieties of English in the British Isles. Routledge.

Jenkins, J., 2003. World Englishes: A resource book for students. Psychology Press.

Kachru, B.B. ed., 1992. The other tongue: English across cultures. University of Illinois Press.